In the cosmetic industry, there is a need to continually clean and maintain the tools used by individuals and beauticians alike. Common tools for the application of cosmetic supplies, such as various concealers, skin conditioners, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, polishes, blush, foundation, glosses, liners, lip plumpers, lip balms, primers, conditioners, and other materials that may be applied to the face or body of a person, are frequently applied with various brushes. These various beauty supplies have different characteristics and repel water, or other detergents at varying efficiencies. Thus, removal of the cosmetic supplies from an applicator or brush may be difficult in some circumstances.
Of course, removal of one cosmetic supply, for example, a certain color powder, so that a different color powder can be applied is often necessary for proper application of the various beauty supplies. Furthermore, applications between different users require that the brushes and other tools are cleaned appropriately to prevent spread of germs between users.
One of the most important aspects of cleaning a brush is the removal and cleansing of bacteria and or viruses that come into contact with the brush. For example, a brush used on the eye can transmit pink eye, or other eye infections. Brushes used on the lips, can easily spread germs such as herpes. There are numerous stories of consumers falling ill after make-up application only to find that a soiled brush was the culprit.
Even individual users benefit from removal of oil, bacteria, germs, and viruses from their brushes, as spreading these germs, even on a user's own face, eyes, or lips can extend cold sores, introduce bacteria to ones eye, spread germs and bacteria that cause acne, and other issues that can be prevented by cleaning cosmetic brushes.
Several products are currently on the market to clean cosmetic brushes. For example, US 2011/0232681 comprises an emollient, an oil remover, a disinfecting agent, a cleaning agent, and a fragrance. However, the product has a slow drying time, requires substantial amount of the product to clean the brushes, and results in damage to the brushes because it does not both clean and protect the brush.
Another product by London Brush Company is a lavender brush shampoo. However, it too, like the prior example does not fully clean the brushes without significant product, is slow to dry, and does not have a conditioner incorporated into the cleanser.
Finally, cleanbrushes.com has a lemon-goats-milk product that again fails to provide for a cleanser that dries quickly, cleans the brush, protects the brush bristles, and perform these functions with an efficient amount of product.